An aptly titled love-in, and dig the varied guest list: Thievery Corporation and Hybrid adding atmosphere to the disc’s middle; Flea and John Frusciante grounding “Hard Life Easy” till it plays like a Chili Peppers stray; the unmistakable bass of New Order’s Peter Hook on two tracks; Fergie (yes, Fergie) joining the choir of more than one cut.

Now add three crucial elements: 1) Co-producing co-host Nuno Bettencourt, underrated guitarist last seen with Extreme, who here solos like Frusciante without the heroin years. 2) The Doors, whose let’s-all-turn-on sex-and-peace spirit prevails, and whose long-dead singer is intoxicatingly channeled from beyond for both a sweet “Touch Me” sample and his first unheard performance in more than 30 years, “Woman in the Window.” 3) Perry himself, who seems more stylistically unified for having invited so many friends into the studio.

He hasn’t sounded so inspired in years, and “Nothing’s Shocking” may be the only more consistent batch of songs in his catalog. The Doors transformation, like the Rare Earth and Bee Gees rewrites, will get all but Jane’s Addiction fiends interested. The grooves, however, will keep ’em hooked, even when the well-meaning lyrics turn into space-cadet transmissions.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.